In search of the mechanisms that enable transfer from spatial reasoning to mathematics understanding
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In search of the mechanisms that enable transfer from spatial reasoning to mathematics understanding Tom Lowrie 1
& Ilyse
Resnick 1 & Danielle Harris 1 & Tracy Logan 1
Received: 5 May 2020 / Revised: 5 May 2020 / Accepted: 6 May 2020 # Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Inc. 2020
Abstract Spatial reasoning, the ability to mentally represent and transform objects and their relations, is considered so closely connected to mathematics that there is no longer a question of whether the two are related. Instead, there remains debate about how to answer the question of why. This paper explores the way the two fields of mathematics education and psychology define, assess and examine this important relationship. We find that both fields rely extensively on psychometric tests to define spatial reasoning skills and do not characterise spatial reasoning in context. We look at the points of connection and propose that the best way forward is to build on the complementary approaches currently undertaken. We suggest better alignment between the spatial and mathematics reasoning skills that have been identified (theoretically and for assessment development), and a focus on how spatial reasoning interventions influence how students think and learn. With the growing interest in spatial intervention for mathematics achievement, we analyse the different ways this has been undertaken and suggest directions for future research. For example, how might laboratory-based studies be scaled up within a range of classroom contexts, and how might classroom-based studies offer more control settings and systematic variation? Keywords Mathematics . Spatial reasoning . Problem solving . Mathematics education .
Assessment There has been a substantial increase in the number of studies examining the association between spatial reasoning and mathematics in recent years. This increased attention has been derived, in part, by the view that an individual’s spatial reasoning capacity is essential for society’s new science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce development (Wai et al. 2009).
* Tom Lowrie [email protected]
1
University of Canberra, 11 Kirinari Street, Bruce, ACT 2617, Australia
T. Lowrie et al.
Spatial reasoning refers to a broad suite of cognitive skills involved in the mental manipulation of two-dimensional and three-dimensional relations between and within objects. Importantly, spatial reasoning skills can be learned and improved (e.g., Uttal et al. 2013), and such improvements can transfer to mathematics learning (e.g., Hawes et al. 2017; Lowrie et al. 2017, 2019, 2020). In this paper, we provide a description of how spatial reasoning has been defined and measured in both psychology and education contexts. We then explore how interdisciplinary alignment can be achieved. A cornerstone of our argument is that spatial reasoning skills are learned and developed in context (not in a void). Children engage in spatially demanding real-world activities, and through this process, develop
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